2-alarm fire displaces two Bellingham families

Firefighters from five separate departments battled a two-alarm house fire on Central Boulevard on Sunday night that caused thousands of dollars in damage and displaced two families.

By Matt Tota/Daily News staff

Milford Daily News

By Matt Tota/Daily News staff

Posted Aug. 27, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Aug 27, 2013 at 9:13 PM

By Matt Tota/Daily News staff

Posted Aug. 27, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Aug 27, 2013 at 9:13 PM

BELLINGHAM

» Social News

Firefighters from five separate departments battled a two-alarm house fire on Central Boulevard on Sunday night that caused thousands of dollars in damage and displaced two families.

At approximately 10 p.m., a 16-year-old girl, the sole person in the multi-family home at that hour, heard smoke detectors sounding, said Bellingham Fire Chief Steve Gentile. She called the fire department after seeing the second-floor hallway filled with smoke.

"She called her mother, and her mother came home and got her out of the building," Gentile said. Both escaped safely.

Arriving first, crews from the Wrentham Road station found heavy smoke and flames inside the home’s basement, Gentile said.

"We made the initial attack and struck a second alarm for extension," he said. "I thought maybe the fire got up into the attic."

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Gentile said. Given the level of smoke damage throughout, he said, the home is inhabitable and estimated the fire caused $100,000 in damage, including destroying the basement.

Two families currently reside at the house. The Red Cross has been aiding them. Another tenant, the landlord, was on vacation in Florida, according to Gentile, and has since returned.

On Monday, Maria Stone was collecting some of her belongings with help from her teenage son Dereck, a track star at Bellingham High.

He said they were in Boston at the time of the fire. Now, they’re staying at a hotel in Franklin thanks to the Red Cross.

Most of their clothes still reeked of smoke, he said. And virtually everything they had stored in the basement was lost in the blaze.

But there was a silver lining.

"Thank God no one was injured," his mother said, before heading inside to continue packing.